Every Promise Fulfilled in Christ?

Great pithy response by Eschatos Ministries to Thomas Schreiner. Read it HERE

PS: I'm seeing amil responses to Matt Waymeyer's Amillennialism and the Age to Come pop up here and there. I'd like to say more as I find time. These responses are frustrating when they appeal to assorted gotcha verses taken out of context.

One fellow wrote that he'd grown up being taught that pretrib and premil were gospel truth. But after examining every text on the Second Advent he concluded that amillennialism was what Scripture taught. Funny, I was raised in an amil environment and came to a premil conclusion after study. This included reading both premil and amil works.

It seems patently obvious that the amillennialist must consistently work hard to convince that prophetic texts are saying something entirely different to what one plainly reads. I can confidently say that I'd be more likely to come to a premil conclusion had I not read anything other than the Bible. Moreover, I'd rather defend what seems plainly presented - without the decoder ring.

90 Minutes of Evidence for the Global Flood

Very technical (for me). Also very interesting presentation by Dr. Kurt Wise:

One of the challenges of understanding flood geology is grasping what the Flood did to the surface of the earth. In the film, many of the scientists talk about the enormous sediment layers covering the globe, but we only had a few minutes to introduce this very important topic.

During the 2017 IGH Conference, Dr. Kurt Wise explored the impact of the Flood on the earth in a series of three in-depth lectures. This lecture on the “study of sediment,” the first in the series, is an excellent overview of the unique features of the sedimentary shell covering the earth.  It provides an enormous amount of evidence for the reality of the global flood.

This is an excellent semi-technical talk for understanding the results of the Flood.

Watch it HERE

Dawkins Blackballed for his Views on Islam

Richard Dawkins was scheduled to give a talk at Berkeley. It was canceled because of his criticism of "Islamism." Read the Patheos article HERE.

Dawkins:

I am known as a frequent critic of Christianity and have never been de-platformed for that. Why do you give Islam a free pass? Why is it fine to criticise Christianity but not Islam?

PS I know this is a contentious issue, especially recently with the kerfuffle involving Dr James White and his critics. We often use the term "Islamism" or "Islamist" as a way to differentiate from Islam. However, I believe that these two terms are rightfully connected with the Islam which Muhammad created. Terrorism is the fruit of Islam.

Understanding the Diversity of Muslims

The problem of the New Covenant

Excellent.

Salvation in the Old Testament and Clearer Revelation

The Banner of Truth website is a great place to visit. I've benefited greatly from their materials. They just put out two articles discussing salvation in the Old Testament.

Part One

Part Two

The following in Part Two caught my attention:

CLEARER REVELATION IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

Thus the Old Testament is not corrected by the New Testament but is rather more clearly explained and expanded in light of New Testament revelation. The New Testament is in the Old Testament contained, and the Old is in the New explained. (underline mine)

My church's reformed pastor recently did a sermon on Psalm 130. I was intrigued as to how he'd handle the verses which mention Israel. Most reformed commentators find ways to Christianize the Psalms. To his credit, he went to Romans 9 and 11. He said a face-value take on these verses addresses the salvation of the Jews. Sadly, he also said he didn't think this meant the nation Israel. So close yet he missed it.

"...and this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins." Rom 11:27

"Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah Jer 31:31

Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea, And its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): "If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever." Thus says the LORD: "If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD. Jer 31:35-37

Does clearer revelation and expansion involve a change of the OT meaning? Considering the folk at Banner are mostly amil-postmil, they do not necessarily see a prophetic future for national Israel. So, to borrow a line from Princess Bride: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

Despite Banner's comment above, they do not do the Old Testament very well where it speaks of future promises to national Israel. In this case, they place their theological grid over both Testaments.

Mike Vlach: Theology III Lecture 09 "Salvation in the Old and New Testaments"

Qureshi & Wood: Importance of Relationships in Religious Dialogue

the last days of dispensationalism

A few years ago I began to research anti-Zionism. I wanted to know what the anti-Christian Zionism folk were saying and why they believed what they believed. Why were they against the future fulfillment of national promises to Israel when so many Bible passages appeared to confirm them?

So I read a bunch of books and articles to try to understand their reasons. Fortunately none of these were overly academic; hence over my head. But they did tax my patience. It seemed to me that these folk passed the same notes around. They all worked to the same formulas as if they had attended the same class under the same teacher.

Anyway, one of the most aggravating books I came across was "the last days of dispensationalism - a scholarly critique of popular misconceptions" by New Zealand scholar Alistair W. Donaldson. I'm pretty darn sure he shared the same class notes as Stephen Sizer, who wrote the book's Foreword. I talk about it HERE